Have you ever read the story "Acres of Diamonds" by Russell Conwell?  If not, the story has a powerful message and I suggest you pick up a copy from our Resources Page.

The short version of the story is that a man leaves home and travels the world to find his fortune.  He traveled all over never finding the riches he was searching for.  He came home penniless and died a pauper.  Meanwhile, in the back yard of the house he’d sold to chase his fortune was one of the richest diamond mines ever discovered. 

He never looked in his own back yard.

Recently a friend told me the results of an interesting survey:

The people surveyed were prospects for a high end product .  The question they were asked was about how the salespeople had followed up after they’d said they wanted to think about the purchase before actually buying. 

The overwhelming response was that the salesperson hadn’t followed up at all. 

The people were also asked if they would have purchased the product if they had been contacted and overwhelmingly they said, "yes."

Business owners often complain about not being able to find qualified buyers.  Yet this survey shows that many sales are lost because of no follow up. 

Money and resources had already been spent to find the prospects who wanted to think about it before buying but they were allowed to slip away. 

The salespeople (in the case of the survey) were off spending more money to find more leads. 

The diamond mine in their back yard (their database) was ignored.  This company operated under an assumption that the qualified buyers were in the outside world.

Are you effectively mining your database?  It’s easier and more cost effective to sell to someone who already knows, likes, and trusts you. 

The lesson:  Look in your backyard before traveling the world.

Written by Laura Hess